


Eve's Night

by Fangirlishness



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Fanwork of Fanwork, Remix, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 13:59:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3770857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlishness/pseuds/Fangirlishness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remix of <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3315893/chapters/7340663">Back to Back Chapter 7 "Night"</a> by <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/greyathena/pseuds/greyathena">greyathena</a> from Eve's point of view.</p><p>She couldn't believe he was <i>in her bed</i>. No, not even in that sense. She wasn't thinking about sex. She was a grown woman, and she was absolutely fine with him lying there an arm's-length away from her. No sexual thoughts at all. He was sleeping, anyway. Waking him up was the last thing she wanted to do right now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eve's Night

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Back to Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3315893) by [greyathena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyathena/pseuds/greyathena). 



> Thanks first and foremost to [greyathena](http://archiveofourown.org/users/greyathena/pseuds/greyathena) for writing a wonderful story and allowing me to remix part of it.
> 
> Thanks to my friend and cheerleader [Neery](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Neery/pseuds/Neery), and my English grammar betas [lycomingst](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lycomingst/pseuds/lycomingst) and [tallihensia](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tallihensia/pseuds/Tallihensia). All remaining mistakes are mine.
> 
> You don't have to have read [Back to Back](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3315893) to understand this story. I recommend reading it because it's awesome! A lot of allusions in this story will make more sense and be more fun if you at least read the chapter this remix is based on: [Back to Back Chapter 7 "Night"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3315893/chapters/7340663). The chapter and this story are set between episodes 1x09 and 1x10.

Eve Baird's own steps were the only sounds she heard as she made her nightly rounds through the Annex after the LITs had gone home. She knew there wasn't much that could happen to the Annex, but the check had become routine and now it simply felt good. She looked down over the dimly lit main room as she passed the rows of shelves. Everything was quiet. She turned the corner to walk down the hall that led to Jenkins's room. The hall was quiet, too. She stopped in front of his door. Muffled sounds of Jenkins walking around and talking to himself filtered through the door. He liked to take his tinkering to his rooms, out of the way of the LITs. She heard him curse at whatever he was working on and she chuckled to herself. Everything was as it was supposed to be. 

_Except - something._

A rustling sound whispered down the length of the hallway. It sounded like books being moved. Eve slowly started down the hall. 

_Maybe the clippings book?_

No, it didn’t come from downstairs but from behind the shelves to the left. She'd seen the Library reorder books on its own, but it could just as well be some less benevolent magic. Eve drew her gun and sidled along the wall so she could take a look at the shelves around the corner. She couldn't see anything out of place in the dim light, so she waited and listened. The mystery was solved when a voice called from behind the next shelf, "It's me, don't shoot."

 _Flynn! When did he get here?_ She rolled her shoulders, put her gun away and strode around the corner to where he was... holding a book out in front of him. _Did he think it was going to protect him?_

He smiled sheepishly at her from behind the book and she tried to suppress the answering smile forming on her own face. It was good to see him. He had explained to her at length, the last time they'd talked, how far he still was from finding a way back to the Library. That had been two weeks ago, and she hadn't expected him back so soon. He never remembered to keep her up to date, and she didn’t want to make it that easy for him, so she said, "We kind of skipped over, hey Eve, I'm coming to the Annex.” 

He was so easy to fluster. It was adorable. He flailed, trying to defend himself without hurting her feelings, and it was so sweet to watch, he actually succeeded.

He seemed to take heart at her indulgent smile and launched into an explanation of what he'd discovered. As usual, she found herself drawn in by his excitement about magic. This time there were pyramids involved. But his gestures were less expansive than usual, and at one point he even yawned mid-explanation. No matter how interesting she found it to discuss Egypt with him, he was falling asleep on his feet. He definitely needed to rest. "So, are you staying tonight?" she asked him straight out.

The way his facial expression derailed at the question told her he hadn't intended to. She could practically see his slower-than-usual thought processes move across his face. Silly man, trying to finish it all in one go, even though he was here already. Instead of chasing off again, he should just go to bed... oh. 

"You never got a place here," she realized. She'd never concerned herself with his whereabouts. Or rather, whenever her thoughts went that way, she had tamped down on them and concentrated on her immediate duties. Thinking about him would only make her start worrying and then she'd feel that urge to protect him. She was his Guardian, after all. He could insist otherwise all he wanted. On the other hand, she could sympathize with him not wanting to be tied to anyone, relying only on himself. So she had put it out of her mind. Apparently too far out of her mind. _Stupid._

 _But… hmm._ She could always take him home with her. Her place in Portland was cozy and she didn't mind sharing for one night. He could sleep on the couch. On second thought, no. That couch was way too small for him. Her thoughts slithered away from imagining him sleeping in her bed, but she pushed through it. She could handle a little awkwardness. She was mature enough to compartmentalize. It shouldn't be a problem. Well, it would be a little weird to come right out with that suggestion. She needed to convince him to come along without making it sound like she was offering anything but a place to sleep. Which she wasn't. She took a few steps towards him until she could nudge him in a companionable way. "Put the old book away and come with me, Librarian."

He hesitated, so she put on what she called her business smile. It seemed to work, since he didn't argue, just followed her impassively down the stairs. _How had he even come this far, tired as he was?_

She went to the globe and reset the Annex door. She usually had it set to an innocuous door belonging to a storage facility two blocks down from her place. That gave her a relaxing walk home. But today she thought she'd minimize his chance of escape and set it directly to her apartment door. 

Flynn seemed to get skittish again once he set foot in her apartment. The effect was quite endearing. She watched him look around her living room, his mind obviously wondering how he'd let himself get here and what conclusions he should draw from it. He didn't seem to be making that much headway, padding into the room and stalling in front of her couch. She decided to continue the working pattern of touching him in a friendly way. She led him upstairs by his arm and kept him busy, offering him a toothbrush and t-shirt, which he both declined, insisting he had everything he needed with him in his bag. 

He made no move to get ready for bed, though, just looked at her. He must be falling asleep on his feet, the poor guy. While he still looked apprehensive, most of all he now looked vulnerable and rumpled. She just wanted to hold him close. She wanted to stroke his hair and make all his worries drain away... and he looked back at her as if he wouldn't mind that at all. 

_No. Stop. Focus._

She dragged herself away and took the bathroom first. He'd come this far. He wouldn't run now.

Exactly as expected, Flynn fell asleep almost immediately once he got into bed, a decent distance between them. It wasn't as easy to fall asleep for her. Up until now, she'd always successfully repressed any thoughts she might have about a relationship developing between them. Having him right next to her, her thoughts just kept returning to him. 

She couldn't believe he was _in her bed_. No, not even in that sense. She wasn't thinking about sex. She was a grown woman, and she was absolutely fine with him lying there an arm's-length away from her. No sexual thoughts at all. He was sleeping, anyway. Waking him up was the last thing she wanted to do right now. He was breathing deeply, but he didn't seem to be sleeping very peacefully. Who knew what kind of memories of magic and life-or-death situations he relived every night? Didn't she know all about it. Minus the magic, although she'd caught up on that front these past few weeks. 

He took another sharp breath and before she really noticed it, she had turned on her side and extended a hand towards his shoulder. She barely managed to stop herself before touching him. He would probably wake abruptly if he was anything like her. So she just let her hand hover next to his shoulder blade and deliberately slowed her breathing, willing his breathing to do the same. It must have worked, because it got more regular after a while. Much better. She felt a lot more relaxed now, too.

***

She woke in the middle of the night with the certainty that there was an intruder in her room. She stayed perfectly still, until it came to her that it was Flynn. Flynn was the intruder. She took a deep breath. Having someone else in her bedroom was going to need some getting used to. It was too dark to see much, but she could make out his form in the bed next to her. She was pretty sure he was awake, so she asked quietly, "You okay?"

He assured her he was. 

_Hm. Totally okay, just both wide awake in the middle of the night. Didn't they make a strange pair._

He still sounded groggy, but somehow he was more present now, if that made any sense. She felt more than saw his focus on her, which didn't help her adrenaline level. She was still trying to breathe off the agitation her abrupt awakening had caused, when she felt his fingers graze her hip. All her sensation focused on that one point of contact. Then his hand settled there warmly, and... 

_...was it an invitation?_

Before she could overthink it, she scooted closer to him. She busied herself with putting her pillow on his shoulder, getting it just right so she could comfortably rest her head. He was acting differently than last night, no longer about to bolt at any moment. Now he seemed more sure of himself - and sapped all her self-confidence in the process. He seemed to want her even closer, pulling her towards him with his hand on her hip, so she hesitantly let her leg fall over his. She was completely awake now, but it was different from the alertness to danger that had made her wake up in the first place. Her leg was positioned awkwardly, but he wasn't moving. She desperately tried to discern what to do next.

Her mind drew a blank. 

Here they were, two adults with years of experience, and she felt like it was her first time again. It was preposterous. She was not a teenager; she'd done this before! 

She tried to recall how she’d gone about this before. It felt like it had been ages ago. She hadn’t had any relationships since she’d started rising through the ranks. She’d had to be way too careful about her reputation. And before that? There had been some one-night stands with strangers or colleagues after missions. She’d made sure to choose ones she knew she would never see again, limiting complications to a minimum. But that was so long ago, and she couldn’t see any similarities between those men and Flynn. Or between her then and her now.

She thought of the first time she'd kissed Flynn, when he'd been about to leave her and she'd needed to impress on him the importance of coming back alive. Even then, she hadn't expected how completely the kiss had swept him off his feet. She'd never encountered anyone this endearingly insecure before. At the same time he was smart and he made her laugh and he was so much more. All her experience was worthless when it came to Flynn. 

She was getting angry with herself. Her thoughts were still going in circles, and she hadn’t moved a muscle. He seemed completely relaxed, his heartbeat under her hand much slower than hers. Wasn't this just embarrassing? 

Her racing thoughts stopped short when she felt him lift his arm. He aborted the movement, took a breath and held it. Then he took another breath, but again didn't say anything. And just like that, her paralysis was broken. It wasn’t important to know exactly what to do anymore. She closed her eyes and let out the breath she'd been holding. Flynn slowly turned his head and kissed her forehead and murmured something calming. 

It was enough that they were here together. No complicated plans necessary. It was that easy. She slotted her leg neatly between his and put her arm more firmly around him. Burying her nose in his cheek, she drew deep breaths that smelled of dusty cellars, of books, and a lot of running. It was comfortable. He was comfortable. Now it was okay to fall asleep again.

***

She'd rolled away from him again during the night, and she woke on her own side of the bed. As if nothing had happened at all. She blinked. Her bed hadn't even had a side she called her own until now. 

She was itching to get up and start her morning workout, but now that the room was slowly getting lighter, she could finally see him. He was still fast asleep next to her, his face relaxed, his eyes moving behind his eyelids. There were still shadows under his eyes, but he looked a lot less tired than last night. He was adorably drooling on her pillow. She was absolutely sure he was still fast asleep when his arm made a searching motion towards her and settled on her stomach. Nobody could be awake and not wear a mischievous smile doing that, especially not Flynn Carsen. The thought brought a smile to her own face.

There was no way she was getting out of bed now. She would stay right here looking at his face until he woke.

***

Impossibly, she'd fallen asleep once more. She woke again when the sun was streaming through her blinds. His hand was still on her stomach, and she let herself enjoy the intimate gesture. She watched his hand lift and sink with her her stomach as she breathed. After a while, he seemed to be drawing it back towards himself. On reflex, she caught it with her own hands. 

Now she’d woken him after all. He blinked lazily and with each blink, his eyes gained more focus. The smile that formed on his lips made her feel warm all over. Then he slowly brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, never taking his eyes off of hers. It was hard to make her voice sound steady and she almost didn’t dare ask. “Are you staying today?" 

"No."

She’d expected the answer. It was the same one he’d given her yesterday. But now there was no flailing, no surprise, no guilt. She knew he felt exactly like she did. She could see it in his eyes. Her heart skipped a beat and it was all she could do not to surge forward and kiss him, make him change his mind, keep him in her bed just a little longer. Instead she let out a breath, or it might have been a sigh, rolled out of bed, and offered him coffee.

***

Eve had just finished pouring two mugs of coffee when Flynn came into the kitchen, freshly shaved and smelling of her shampoo. She managed not to stare too obviously at the expanse of skin at his throat where his shirt was still half-open, and held out one of the mugs to him.

“Thank you, Guardian.”

“You’re welcome, Librarian.”

Their practiced exchange made her smile. This was a lot less awkward than it could have been. They settled comfortably next to each other, leaning on the counter and sipping their steaming coffee in blissful silence. This was really nice. Having coffee with him every morning would also be really nice. Apart from all the other things they could be having…. 

She wondered if she was the only one whose thoughts had taken a wrong turn again, and maybe she wasn’t, because Flynn’s eyes were unfocused and he seemed to be far away with his thoughts. She watched him out of the corner of her eye for a while longer, until he started fidgeting impatiently. She knew what that meant. “Go get your book. You can start looking through it here at the table.”

The look he gave her was full of surprised gratitude. He made a beeline for the living room, coffee mug still in hand. He came running back into the kitchen with the book under his arm, juggled it onto the kitchen table one-handed and opened it. He pulled up a chair and started leafing through the pages. Eve watched him sink into his work, his eyes jumping from line to line and his lips moving silently. Now he was in his element again. She leaned back against the counter, hiding her smile in her coffee cup.

“Oh! That must be it!” He waved her over and pointed at a page. She went and looked over his shoulder at the text. The pages were uniformly covered in Hebrew script, and the place at which he pointed didn’t look any different than any other. “What is it?”

“This details the spells that were used to protect the pyramids in the Ptolemaic period. We might encounter any of these, so I’m going to have to prepare against all of them. There are quite a few. It might... take some…”

He trailed off, submerged in the book again. 

She waited whether he’d pick up his thread again, but of course he didn’t. She zoned out, watching his lips move and the vein in his throat pulse. His neck looked incredibly inviting. But if she put her fingers there and touched the little hairs at the back of his neck, he’d shiver, and probably spill his coffee on the book. 

She shook her head and blinked, trying to focus on something productive. She concentrated on draining her coffee. Watching him work was nice enough. In fact, she could do that all day. Anyway, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop at touching his neck. She’d trail her fingers around to his throat and down his chest where his shirt was still unbuttoned, and it wouldn’t stay there, either, and, oh, what was she doing?

When he stretched down to put his empty coffee cup on the floor, her hand was so close to his neck, it was impossible to stop it from drifting over. When her fingers lightly touched his neck, he really did shiver. He craned his neck up at her, giving her an inquisitive look, and slowly pushed himself up out of the chair. He came closer, his dark brown eyes searching her face. When their lips finally touched, she melted into the kiss. There was nothing on her mind for a long time, just the feel of his warm lips, the sharp taste of coffee on his tongue, his timid fingers curling in her hair. 

When he pulled away with a sigh, she reluctantly blinked her eyes open. His eyes were still closed and his voice low. “I should go, or I’ll never get anything done.”

“Yes.” She knew he was right. She gave him one last peck on the lips. “You’re right.” Just one more for good measure. “You should go.” And one more for the road. She tore herself away with some effort.

She cleaned the coffee pot and mugs while Flynn went to gather his things. When she turned to follow him, she saw his blue neckerchief on the floor. It must have fallen when he picked up his suit jacket. When he came towards her, all set to go, she held it out to him. But when he tried to take it out of her hand, she didn’t want to let go. He tilted his head, and his expression changed from surprised to intrigued. She lifted her eyebrows at him. He let go of the neckerchief and spread his hands, not saying anything for once, just waiting for her. She stepped closer to him and laid the cloth around his neck, concentrating on tying a perfect knot in the front. She smoothed it down a few times with her palms and breathed in deeply. “Come back alive, Librarian.” 

He stopped her backward step by catching her hands in both of his. She saw the promise in his eyes loud and clear and nodded in acknowledgment. Still holding hands, they stepped through the door together.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Eve's Night [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6562351) by [blackglass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackglass/pseuds/blackglass)




End file.
